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ATLANTA -- Grambling State seized the opportunity when North Carolina Centrals Quentin Atkinson celebrated too much in the Celebration Bowl.Grambling State blocked an extra-point kick set back 15 yards by Atkinsons excessive celebration with just over two minutes left, holding off North Carolina Central 10-9 on Saturday in the bowl that decides bragging rights for historically black colleges and universities.Joseph McWilliams surged in and swatted Brandon McLarens 35-yard try with 2:14 remaining to preserve the Tigers edge.Down 10-3, the Eagles had a chance to pull even after Atkinson shook loose and caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from scrambling Malcolm Bell. But Atkinson took off his helmet while reveling with the crowd, drawing a personal foul penalty.I kind of felt fault for that, Atkinson said. I do want to apologize to my team for that because that was a selfish act. Im not selfish, but it was the heat of the moment and I was excited to bring the team back with an outstanding play.Bell called Atkinsons mistake kind of a bonehead play but said the team also was hurt by other mistakes in the game.North Carolina Central coach Jerry Mack said the longer extra point still should have been made if not for a missed block on McWilliams.Martez Carters 32-yard touchdown run to open the second half gave Grambling State (11-1) its first lead. The Tigers earned the bowl bid by winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship.The Eagles (9-3) won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in Macks third year.Trailing 3-0 at halftime, Grambling State opened the third quarter with a run-first plan. Following five power runs by 240-pound running back Jestin Kelly, the 175-pound Carter looked extra-quick on his sharp cuts through the line on his touchdown run.Jestin Kelly, hes a ground-and-pound type guy, Carter said. He wore those guys down. Im just a home-run hitter, man. He wore them down and then they put me in. What else are you going to do? You take those blows from him and then try to take me.Carter had 109 yards rushing, two catches for 23 yards and a combined 71 yards on four punt and kickoff returns. He was named offensive MVP. Kelly added 65 yards rushing.The Tigers threw only one play-action pass for a short gain on the touchdown drive.Grambling States defense later set up more points. Arkez Cooper sacked Bell, forcing a fumble recovered by Malcolm Williams at the Eagles 25. The turnover set up a 26-yard field goal by Jonathan Wallace.McLarens 23-yard field goal provided the only points of the first half.THE TAKEAWAYGrambling State: The Tigers placed a cap on their continued strong progress made in three years under coach Broderick Fobbs, who won seven and nine games, respectively, in his first two years. Fobbs, who played for former coach Eddie Robinson, showed on the national stage the program has returned to prominence as a force among historically black colleges.North Carolina Central: Despite being a two-touchdown underdog, the Eagles played even with Grambling State, posting a shutout in the first half.QB NUMBERSBell completed 18 of 32 passes for 240 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He had several passes dropped, including a would-be touchdown catch by Atkinson in the first half. Devante Kincade completed 15 of 31 passes for 149 yards with an interception for Grambling State.HERE TO STAYBoth coaches praised the second-year Celebration Bowl as the more attractive alternative to a possible spot in the FCS playoffs.It exceeded all expectations, Fobbs said. This deal is here to stay.Added Mack: The way weve been treated ... I would rather come back to this game next year.UP NEXTGrambling State: The Tigers will return a good talent base, including Kincade, as they try to defend their SWAC championship. Theyll need to replace six starters on offense and 10 overall. Key losses from the defense include noseguard Blain Winston and leading tacklers Guy Stallworth and Cooper.North Carolina Central: The Eagles must replace nine senior starters, including six on offense, as they look to defend their MEAC championship. Freshman Naiil Ramadan was listed as the top backup to Bell at quarterback. The Eagles also lose four of their five starting offensive linemen, with only left tackle Nick Leverett returning. The Eagles have not released their 2017 schedule.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 Walker Zimmerman USA Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Matt Miazga Jersey . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. http://www.usasoccerauthority.com/john-brooks-usa-jersey/ . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. Matt Besler Jersey . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. Andrija Novakovich USA Jersey .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. NEW YORK -- A year ago, the New York Mets had an eventful first homestand after the All-Star break.The Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kerhsaw nearly threw a perfect game against the Mets, who called up their top prospect, made three trades and vaulted into first place in the National League East.New York will hope its first homestand of this year after the All-Star will be filled with wins. The Mets kick off the home portion of the second-half scheduled Monday with the opener of a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals.The homestand will begin a year and one day after Michael Conforto was called up and trades for Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson were completed. It also starts three days shy of the one-year anniversary of the Wilmer Flores-for-Carlos Gomez trade that fell through, setting up the dramatic acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes three days later.Conforto, Johnson, Cespedes and Flores are still with the third-place Mets, who are 52-45 and five games behind the Washington Nationals in the National League East. New York also is a half-game behind the Miami Marlins for the second NL wild card.The Mets would have been further back, but they took two of three in Miami and ended an eight-game road trip by getting a 3-0 victory, highlighted by Steven Matz retiring Giancarlo Stanton with two on for the final out of the fifth inning.This was crunch time for us, Mets manager Terry Collins said. We couldnt lose any more ground. We have to hang in there until we start to get healthy or we start to really get it clicking offensively. This was a good series for us to win.Cespedes had an RBI single Sunday, and he has five hits in 20 at-bats in six games since returning from a quadriceps injury. He is batting .299 with 21 home runs and 56 RBI, but the quad ailment means he cant move well enough to play center field and can play only left field.Conforto was used in center field for the first time Sunday. He is 5-for-11 in five games since returning from Triple-A Las Vegas after a massive slump earned him a demotion.Trade rumors are swirling around the Mets. Among the reports: The New York Daily News wrote that the Mets are among the teams trying to acquire Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy with a possible offer being catcher Travis dArnaud and a prospect.While dArnaud may become expendable, Noah Syndergaard is not.Syndergaard was acquired with dArnaud from the Toronto Blue Jays following the 2012 season in the R.A. Dickey deal and has emerged as the Mets ace. He will pitch the series opener against the Cardinals on Monday, only his second outing in 17 days surrounding the All-Star break.ddddddddddddSyndergaard (9-4, 2.43 ERA) experienced arm fatigue July 8 against Washington, and the Mets pushed him back to the fifth game after the break to give him more time off. His fastball velocity reached 100 mph Tuesday, when he allowed an unearned run in 5 2/3 innings during a 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.I felt really comfortable starting the game, he said. I was just trying to nibble on the corners a little bit and not getting the balls over and missing my spots -- not by much -- just a little bit. ... (But) I felt pretty crisp in terms of mechanics out there.The right-hander is 5-2 with a 2.30 ERA at home this season and 12-4 with a 2.39 ERA in 23 appearances at home with 167 strikeouts and 16 walks.In his only career outing against the Cardinals, Syndergaard pitched seven innings of two-run ball in a 3-2 loss July 17, 2015 at Busch Stadium.St. Louis (52-46) will play 20 of its next 26 games on the road, and it starts this stretch a game behind the Marlins in the wild-card chase and 7 1/2 behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. The Cardinals will start the trip without third baseman Jhonny Peralta, second baseman/third baseman Matt Carpenter and first baseman/outfielder Brandon Moss but could end it with the trio back in the lineup.Any way you look at it, it certainly strengthens your club, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said.The Cardinals won six of their first eight games after the break, but following a 16-inning win Friday, they were outscored 16-8 in consecutive losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers.St. Louis used its bullpen for 20 2/3 innings in the weekend series, and so it will look for distance Monday from starter Carlos Martinez (9-6, 2.83 ERA). Martinez allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings Wednesday against the San Diego Padres and is 3-1 with a 1.52 ERA in his last seven starts.Martinez has provided St. Louis with distance by pitching into the seventh during 10 of his 18 starts. He did so in his last start after getting a bloody nose in the second inning.It actually really helped me stay focused after the fact, Martinez said through an interpreter. I was trying to stay in the game and (keep) my mind in the game where it should be.Martinez is 1-1 with a 0.57 ERA in five career appearances (two starts) against the Mets. He was the losing pitcher when the teams played 19 innings July 19, 2015, in St. Louis, and he allowed four hits in 6 1/3 innings during a 9-0 win at New York on May 20, 2015. ' ' '